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WEKU
WEKU
James Doubek

Jupiter is coming its closest to Earth in decades

A view of Jupiter's Great Red Spot and turbulent southern hemisphere was captured by NASA's Juno spacecraft in 2019. (NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/MSSS/Kevin M. Gill)

The gas giant Jupiter is coming the closest it has come to Earth in 59 years this Monday and will be particularly visible because it coincides with another event called opposition.

When in opposition, a planet is on the opposite side of Earth from the sun, so you could draw a straight line from the sun to Earth to Jupiter, all in alignment. Jupiter's opposition happens every 13 months. Looking from the Earth, when the sun sets in the west, Jupiter will rise in the east, directly opposite. During opposition, planets appear at their biggest and brightest.

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